good evening it is April 11th 2024 and I'd like to welcome you to the meeting of the South Brunswick Board of Education and to call the meeting to order please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge the allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all okay all right the statement of advanced notice the New Jersey open public meeting Act njsba 10 4-6 also known as the Sunshine Law was enacted to ensure the right of the public to have advanced notice of and to attend the meetings of public bodies at which any business affecting their interest is discussed or acted upon the primary purpose is for board members to discuss and vote on board business in accordance with the provisions of this act the board secretary has caused notice of this meeting 48 hours prior including date time and location to be posted in the South brunsick Public Library the board office filed with the Township Clerk and communicated to the home News Tribune and the Star Ledger it is also posted on the district website Mr palowski may I have roll call M Julie Pres Miss Laura Hernandez here miss Deepa carthik Miss Alicia Khan here Mr Roger Krishna Mr Mike Mitchell Mr Barry Nathanson Dr Smith thej y Mrs Lisa Rogers here we have a quorum thank you sir may I have a motion in a second to approve tonight's agenda motion motion by Miss hernandz second by Dr Raj all in favor I any nay moving on the next item is uh executive session note please wait note please wait until I read the statement to leave the Das may I have a motion good to go into executive session move Dr Raj Alicia Miss Alicia Khan second all in favor very good be it resolved that the Board of Education of the township of South Brunswick hereby moves into an executive session in accordance with the Sunshine Law chapter 231 of the public laws of 1975 njs 10 4-6 through 10421 to discuss the following student discipline matter be it resolved that the discussion conducted in the executive session can be disclosed to the public at such time as the matters have been resolved formal action may be taken at the meeting we will return good evening South Brunswick may I have a motion to reopen the South Brunswick Board of Education meeting motion Mr Mitchell second Miss Ferrara all in favor any nay okay I would like to make a motion to uh amend the agenda and add the student discipline matter to the executive session scheduled for later so moved may I have a second second Miss KH all in favor any NS motion moves okay all righty our next order of business uh Mr secretary Mr palowski uh draft of the minutes were posted and distributed to the board are there any corrections to the minutes as posted I see none the minutes stand as written and are approved the next order of business is the student representative Defan Lee good evening everyone okay so starting off with some news from the high school our spring spirit week started off strong on on Monday with lazy day Tuesday with black and gold day today with destination day and ending tomorrow with color Wars our spring pep rally will be taking place tomorrow on April 12th with performances from jazz band visual Ensemble Temptation Mr sbhs participants and uh staff prom court last Friday hosa's Family Feud game show night had more than 400 attendees with pizza and Boba sales and raised approximately $44,000 to donate to a South Brunswick family in need the Viking leadership Alliance food drive raised 2,000 lb of food to donate to replenish the middlex County food pantry today the mental health fair was hosted in the AL Cove of the high school and was available all day for students to enjoy and destress the fair included therapy dogs arts and craft stations informational booths and fun activities SB Earth is excited to present upcycle night on April 16th from 6:00 to 800 p.m. in the blue cafeteria the event will include tie dye and pot painting and pre-sale tickets will be available tomorrow during all lunches the the 19th annual K to2 Student Art Show will be hosted in the High School main gym on Wednesday April 17th from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. uh that's all I have for everyone today and I wish you all a great night very good thank you so much okay the next order is the report of the president um just a few things for the board members uh the middle sex County school board's meeting will be on Wednesday me 1 if you'd like to attend they are honoring the middlex county teacher of the year who is from North Brunswick Julie Mercier so we congratulate Julie on that speaking of honors we would like to congratulate Mr Mike Mitchell um on his receipt of becoming the master board member [Applause] yay um for those that don't know it takes a lot of hard work um to become a master board member and we're really proud of Mike uh that he's achieved it so welcome to the club Mike thank you yep um finally all just for the board members um keeping up with the latest news in Trenton uh the Department of Education acting commissioner Kevin demer will be testifying before the assembly or excuse me he testified before the assembly budget committee yesterday and he'll also be testifying again to the Senate on April 16th if anyone is interested to see um his words or comments you can watch the live proceedings by going to the New Jersey legislature site also just a a note recently um and I want the board to be aware of this an open letter was sent to the governor and signed by multiple organizations regarding the opposition to bills a4500 um 4144 um it seems that despite the careful language that's been crafted it is a voucher program and that is designed to subsidize private schools by offering tax credits to individual donors which in effect diminishes the funds available at a time when many public schools including South buun have had massive Cuts uh the education Law Center has launched a vigorous opposition to these bills sending letter to the governor and other public officials if you're interested in reading the release um I urge you to go to the website Insider nj.com there is a press release the opposition spans the country including folks from Texas Arizona and Illinois so if anybody's interested to understand that please go ahead and uh take a moment to read that that's all I have for tonight and next is the report of the superintendent uh welcome so all I seem to do these days is give bad news so tonight we're going to start with good news um the people in this audience a lot of these people who who's here because they kind of won something come on Darius get your hand up yeah every year we do this and uh this um Blair will take take us home with that but you know in in times where right now things are not very cheerful it is important to take time to celebrate and while we're only celebrating a few tonight um I could have all the all the staff members I won't do that but we could be celebrating any number of hundreds and hundreds of our staff they're that talented a group so tonight we celebrate before I do what I have to do so we start with celebration and uh I'm going to give a few announcements before we get that going but thank you all for coming out tonight um some of you might be here for a budget talk but you get to have this experience first of hearing about our wonderful staff so that's awesome um another positive um seems every year our music program wins what's called from the N Foundation um honored as one of the best communities for music education in the country um it's the 25th year and it's really a an amazing thing to keep doing year after year do we have any music educators here tonight any music educators well they are really you know that they're busy they're how about any students that are involved in the music program there we go uh we have one that used to be involved in the music program was that yeah I still involved so it it really is one of the most if you've never heard one of our bands doesn't matter what it doesn't matter if it's an elementary school band or the high school marching band or one of our special High School bands or middle school bands it's amazing and it's a well-deserved award uh another note on April 17th next week we have the Joan kirkus St n if you've never been to that that is a must it is insane and all of our art teachers take the students work and they basically decorate the gym and it's it's insane it's well worth it if you even if you don't have kids involved in it just come it'll just make you smile uh we have a parent Academy on April 23rd this is autism acceptance month I like that it's not called Autism Awareness Month and um that's just really important for about 50 years that's been going on but the importance of acknowledging um the ever growing population of autistic students and their families is really important so um we definitely accept them here and do an amazing job with educating them as well another note April 25th is take your take your child to workday and the last thing I would have is budget so I'm going to hold and I'm going to end inviting up Marty abots and Bobby Bender our regulars representing the Ed Foundation and here comes the helmet now I can do it hel thank you Mr feder for allowing us to speak for a few minutes tonight about the education foundation's upcoming event my name is Bobby binder and I'm the treasurer of the Education Foundation the tortois South Brunswick will take place on Sunday June 2nd starting at the high school I've already put in my requests for sunny day at work last year so we're hoping that it works again for this year once again we have three routes the 25m route heads out towards Route 27 starts at the high school and winds through kenel Park Mammoth Junction and Dayton with a rest stop at Eagles Landing day camp on Davidson Mill Road the 10mile route mostly circles Dayton and the Four Mile route is across the street from the high school and offers a shorter 2 Mile route as well details about this event can be found at our website at foundation sb.org for those of you unfamiliar with the tour to South Brunswick I'll give you a very quick history it started in 2011 and we had about 20 participants since then our numbers have swelled and before the pandemic of 2020 we had over 800 people participating we've definitely gained a lot of momentum over the last few years and we're hoping to continue that Trend this year we had a uh poster contest uh that was open to Third through fifth graders and there were we had more than 70 submissions our winner was announced last month right here from this Podium and for those who missed it it was s sirat k from Greenbrook a fifth grader was our winner post heart poster has been featuring all of our uh media and uh uh and our um ad advertising for the ride thank you what about all the other posters that were submitted Marty oh yeah so the other 70 posters will going to be uh shown at the event on June 2nd we'll have them all there and you can also see the names of all the participants on our website again at EDF Foundation sb.org uh they'll be on display again at the tour on June 2nd so we have a modest charge for this event and then give some of the money back to the physical education departments in in the participating school so for those of you that sign up make sure you pick the school school that your CH your child is working at is is at or was at so that they get the benefit of you participating uh with them as the registered school and that will ensure that they get the grant money for the participation in the FED department and after all these years of riding and coming up here to make the presentation I will remind everyone that while riding any distance in the tour to South Brunswick or anytime that you are out riding your bicycle helmets are 100% required thank you so just just want to add that registration is now open so go to EDF foundation sb.org and register and thank you thank you very much app your support okay uh next on the agenda um it's time for the recognition so this recognition is for 2023 2024 Educators and the support persons of the year and I'd like to ask the Blair ecan the director of professional development Step Up good evening everyone members of the board our honores their friends family and colleagues and everyone tuning in from home as Lisa said I'm Blair eisan director of programs and professional development and I have the honor of recognizing this year's Educators and educational support people of the Year this is a time honored tradition in South Brunswick dating back to 1996 each year staff students and parents are invited to submit letters nominating staff members across the district a selection committee then has the difficult task of reading hundreds of nominations we were just under 500 this year and scoring them on a given set of criteria in the end just 24 are selected two honoraries from each school and two at the District level tonight's honores Inspire learning on a grand scale and make a difference in the lives of students colleagues and the school Community with their caring support and unwavering work ethic they are leaders highly skilled and dedicated to the profession thank you to our nomination writers and readers as well as our administrators who surprised each honory in their building with the special announcement and for being here tonight thank you to supervisor Rob Sears and our music department for helping me set the stage tonight to our board of education for their support maram Murphy and to my assistant Rachel Koss for all the behind the-scenes work that is truly months in the making a special thank you to the PTO from each building they purchased one of the Honor's gifts a desk name plate for them to display proudly wherever they choose and they also made a small donation in their honor I'm so grateful for your continued support of this program and that you always kindly agree to be a part of this tradition an equally special thank you to our Ed Foundation of South Brunswick for their generosity they reached out a couple of years ago wanting to co-sponsor this event for our staff and kindly continue continue to do so they purchase the second gift that our honores will receive it's a framed print that you'll see up here in a few minutes that ties to our theme for the evening please visit efoundation sb.org to learn more about their work and how you could support the foundation in the past I've found my inspiration for this recognition program in books teachers lessons and in our very own students this year and she'll be very happy to know this I actually found inspiration in my mom when I was out for a walk sometime in the early fall I noticed the trees starting to change colors I smiled to myself thinking about a time my mom wasn't happy with me because I didn't appreciate the trees that she pointed out on our Drive in my defense I think I was about nine and we were on our way to Camp which I wasn't thrilled about but now I do stop and notice and on the particular walk I mentioned I started to think about what makes trees worth noticing trees play a critical role in the balance of our systems they nurture growth and provide shelter and Essentials they literally breathe life into the world they have deep roots that extend beyond what we can see those roots are an anchor trees have branches that reach out in all directions they are resilient changing with the seasons and weathering many storms trees are pillars that we look up to solid strong and consistent they offer a sense of calm and awe comfort and peace inspiration and hope there are many kinds of trees all unique they are beautiful standing on their own and when you put them together they're breathtaking and Powerful the same could be said about our Educators and educational support people their importance their impact their influence the ways in which they give so selflessly tonight's honores play a critical role here among staff students and colleagues and their work and character are known and recognized tonight we stop to appreciate their colors and all they do for the South brunswood Community every day and in every way so as I celebrate each hory tonight I'll share with you a tree chosen for them and why the frame print from the Ed Foundation that they'll be receiving and the donation I spoke of earlier from the PTO was made to the Arbor Day Foundation a tree planting nonprofit aiming to plant 500 million trees by 2027 in areas that they are needed most but first I'd like to ask Mrs Rogers to join me to help congratulate our honores and I'll also ask Brooks Crossing and Brunswick acres honores and administrators to stand along the wall here with me and as one school sits down the next one can come up so without further Ado I will start at Brooks Crossing with Mrs Vanessa neeno third grade teacher Mrs NEPA maseno is being gifted the coconut tree a coconut tree stands tall in adversity and hardship it is a symbol of loyalty and Faith coconut trees give protection to those who seek it they Inspire us to embark on a meaningful journey within ourselves in India and in the Philippines a CO a coconut tree is seen as providing all the necessities of life Mrs NEPA miseno represents each of these things and more a former student and now High School senior wrote She possesses a rare combination of qualities that Define her as outstanding despite the passage of time her impact remains profound and her contributions are immeasurable she has left an indelible mark on my life [Applause] congratulations Miss Swati Maharana is a behavior technician at Brooks Crossing Elementary School she is being gifted the Banyan Tree the banion tree represents growth strength and reflection it continually grows stronger routs and reaches New Heights taking up all the space it is meant to Mrs mhana has navigated her role with Grace and professionalism she is eager to learn and shows patience in the most challenging situations and she inspires those around her to be better congratulations Miss Karen Petra cones is a fifth grade teacher at Brunswick Acres Elementary she is being gifted the SEO Tre a SEO Tre is both gentle and courageous it is seen as being meant to help us ignite our creative Passion by tapping into our own wisdom and strength it's a symbol of protection and Longevity Miss Petra conus is known as a warrior for her students and a leader amongst her colleagues her reach extends Beyond The Four Walls of her classroom a student wrote that she is a phenomenal teacher not just because she could teach but because of the support empathy and love she shows to her students congratulations Mrs Denise Gable is a par professional for students with autism at Brunswick acr's Elementary she is being gifted the maple tree maple tree symbolize love loyalty strength and endurance Mrs Gable is meticulous in her role she is everyone's go-to person and she has dedicated herself to her colleagues and students Maple Leaves have beautiful colors that change with the seasons she Embraces change and exemplifies professionalism [Applause] [Music] congratulations Miss Jill Kerwin is the school nurse at Cambridge Elementary School she is being gifted the willow tree the wood of the willow tree is highly valued for its strength and flexibility the delic leaves and graceful branches also evoke a sense of peace and Tranquility which students feel when they visit her office a willow tree is often depicted as a mystical tree with healing powers which is fitting for a nurse I'd say Miss kerwin's knowledge in her field is a gift to Cambridge and the district just like the shade of a willow tree staff and students alike find comfort in her care congratulations Miss pakita Tisdale is a special education par professional at Cambridge Elementary School she is being given the birch tree the birch tree is a symbol for new beginnings and growth the Striking white bark is strong and overall the tree helps others feel lifted and motivated with the lightness it brings Miss Tisdale supports the growth of her students and is consistently looking to continue her own learning as well her strength and encouragement are just some of her positive contributions congratulations to [Applause] Miss Ona Basset is a preschool teacher at const elementary school she is being given the cherry blossom tree cherry blossom tree symbolized the start of a new season as her preschool students transition to school for the first time she has laid a positive foundation for them as Learners and kind humans cherry blossom countries are also inspirational and admired the same way Miss Basset is someone wrote that she has created an atmosphere where curiosity is nurtured mistakes are stepping stones and students know their selfworth [Applause] congratulations Miss Jennifer Gibbons is a safety par professional at Constable Elementary School she is being given the oak tree oak tree symbolize strength endurance and wisdom and a favorite of Mrs Rogers I hear her Whispering back here the trunk Rises tall and proud branching out into a canopy of leaves that provides shelter and protection to those beneath it missg is a strong presence for her students she has a calming influence and is consistently steady one student in particular who faces challenges looks for her every day he knows he is cared for everything Miss Gibbons does is not to be recognized it's simply because of her love for children [Applause] congratulations Mrs Lisa Jorgenson is the speech and language specialist at Dayton and Dean's preschool she is being gifted the Fig Tree in Roman times fig trees were believed to increase the strength of the of young people fig trees are a symbol of abundance and encourage creating for the greater good Mrs Jorgenson has an abundance of knowledge in which she shares so freely with staff and parents she aims for inclusion and Independence for our youngest Learners someone wrote she is thoughtful and and intentional is motivating and she builds students confidence she creates a positive School experience for all [Applause] [Music] congratulations Miss rashanda Wade are you here tonight all right we will make sure U Mrs plumber brings her gift to her but I'm still going to recognize her here tonight miss rashonda Wade is a bus driver for our youngest Riders at Dayton Indians preschool she is being given the apple tree in ancient mythology the apple tree is a symbol for good health future happiness and a place for rest and shelter the apple is a favorite and well known for good reason and so is Miss Wade she helps our spirited three and four-year-olds transitioning to and from school she is trusted by parents and created a nurturing and comfortable environment for students her bus is a safe haven and she ensures students are greeted with a smile and love every day her positivity and caring nature are Beyond appreciated we congratulate her Mrs Lori kolquist is a second grade teacher at Greenbrook Elementary School she is being given the bonsai tree was very hard not to include a Karate Kid quote the bonsai tree is a symbol of strength and conveys Harmony and patience it also represents a lifetime commitment to patience and dedication as well as the idea of balance Mrs kolquist is a veteran educator who cares about the academic and social emotional well-being of her students she aims to inspire her students to be the best versions of themselves a parent wrote Mrs kolquist has found a way to get students to push themselves forward while maintaining autonomy over their learning congratulations to [Applause] you Mrs Pusa Flint is the student information secretary at Greenbrook she is being gifted the American chestnut tree which signals a time of trust and providing for ourselves and our community by offering stability and kindness Mrs Flint does just that to anyone that enters green Brook's main office she is efficient trusted friendly and flexible her input and work ethic is valued congratulations to [Applause] you Mrs Jon koui is a kindergarten teacher at indian fields she is being given the bristle cone tree because of their enduring nature bristle cone trees are known to impart such wisdom and remind us to to be a person of integrity and Truth Mrs koui has been instilling core values such as these in her colleagues and students for over 30 years there is a deep sense of family in her classroom where everyone belongs students remember how she made them feel years and years later what greater gift congratulations [Applause] Mrs Shirley Walker is a safety par professional at Indian Fields Elementary School she is being gifted the elm tree you like that one too that's a good one too when at its fullest the tree's form be um becomes a beautiful vase the elm tree is a symbol for communication relationships adaptation and balance Mrs Walker brings balance to indian fields every day she is an Innovative thinker and her leadership during lunch and recess is one of the reasons it is quote unquote a well oil machine the time attention and care she gives to staff and students does not go unnoticed and we congratulate [Applause] [Music] you Mrs Carly Rabbi is a special education teacher at Mama Junction Elementary she is being given the spruce tree the spirit of a spruce tree reminds us of our inner resilience and not to give up something she teaches her students and embodies herself spruce tree symbolize kindness friendship and protection long ago during the winter solstice spruce trees were brought into people's homes for life and light Mrs rabby is a bright light for the mama Junction Community all students feel respected accepted and protected her colleagues learn from her every day her gentle and nurturing manner mixed with her experience of working with students with special needs needs and her knowledge is celebrated [Music] congratulations Mrs Deborah slaven couldn't be here tonight but we still want to celebrate her she is a special education paraprofessional at Mama Junction Elementary she is being gifted the magnolia tree magnolia symbolize luck stability and nobility the blossom symbolize determination and are known as the mother of all flowering plants on Earth Mrs slaven treats each student as if they are her own children her Relentless efforts and unwavering work ethic is consistently evident in all she does her students are fortunate to have her and are successful because of her experience and care so congratulations to her Mrs Kristen cornette is a math teacher for for 7eventh and eighth grade students at Crossroads North Middle School she is being given the gko tree which is a symbol of peace hope and vitality the beautiful fan-shaped leaves are unique and distinct the gko tree is respected as is Mrs cornette she is beyond committed to her colleagues and students her content knowledge instructional delivery and overall way to personalized learning is celebrated she leads and supports her team shows kindness to children and everyone around her and is truly a model educator [Applause] congratulations Mrs Rashmi joham Mani is a safety par professional at Crossroads North Middle School she is being given the Olive Tree olive trees are generous and robust they are a symbol of peace and the essence of all things good Mrs J jansi truly brings good to Crossroads North her genuine nature Vigilant presence and proactive approach are just a few of her strengths she makes it a point to personally reach out to staff and students extending those branches Mrs John man's kindness radiates and all she does while putting students safety and accountability first [Applause] congratulations Mrs Kelly fortun is a physical education teacher at Crossroad South Middle School as well as a coach in the district she is being given the bowab tree which is known for taking on many roles the Striking silhouette of a bowab tree at Sunset is a familiar site in Africa think Lion King it is a symbol of strength and presence Mrs Fortune well known as a dedicated role model with a positive approach to supporting students Mrs fortun established a volleyball program and is a tremendous support to our Special Olympics athletes as the organizer of unified Vikings bowling [Applause] [Music] congratulations Mrs Caroline MAAC is a special education par professional at Crossroad South Middle School she is being given the General Sherman tree which is a type of Sequoia General Sherman trees are filled with a lot of history and great wonder they are strong and supportive Mrs MC is an integral part of students daily successes she is consistent encouraging and patient a parent wrote Mrs MC's Devotion to her students is unparalleled and we consider ourselves lucky that our child has had the privilege of working with her on a daily basis congratulations congrats Mrs Karen Slater teaches multilingual Learners at South Brunswick High School she is being given the sycamore tree the spiritual meaning of the sycamore tree lies in its roots teaching us to embrace our past and honor our heritage it also Embraces change Mrs Slater is an advocate and voice for students new to the district and often times the country learning the English language for the first time she is persistent patient and empathetic and creates an environment where her students know they are safe they are cared for and they belong here [Applause] congratulations congratulations go girl that's right Mr Darius Gilliam is a safety par professional at South Brunswick High School he is being given the orange tree orange trees are associated with kindness loyalty and generosity if you visited sphs you most likely have experienced his genuine spirit and smile someone wrote his enthusiasm makes it hard hard to have a bad day in his presence as an sbhs graduate Mr Darius as he is fondly known takes great pride in the building the students and his work he knows and cares for all he jumps in to help whenever wherever and he has high expectations for students and models passion and professionalism [Applause] congratulations I believe one of his letters also called him an icon Mrs Amy wish math specialist is our district educator of the year she is being given the lemon tree which represents a time of purpose Clarity and action she makes lemonade out of every situation and her extensive knowledge is the fruit her colleagues and students quote unquote and devour [Applause] congratulations last but certainly not least Mrs Sheree gther is a bus driver and our district support person of the year she is being given eucalyptus eucalyptus is a symbol of strength and protection eucalyptus gets its name from the Greek word you which means good well and true The Roots can extract gold from soil and Mrs gather is pure gold she sees every child as her own she knows the importance of her role saying I'm the first one they see after their families in the morning I have to look out for them this one's hard I can't let them start their day in a bad way she empowers older students to look out for each other and has created a take care of another culture on her bus she is a true Exemplar of what a bus driver can be and how the right driver can make the bus ride fun safe and encouraging congratulations [Applause] on that sweet note this concludes tonight's recognition program please give all of our honores another round of applause yep don't don't say my stuff now don't take away my stuff thank you all for being here to celebrate them with us and have a good night so just before anyone don't leave don't leave um if you this was like literally handcrafted by Blair yeah that means she [Music] yeah and I it's hard not to notice the the level of care she put into each one of these individuals that she takes from the information she gleans from the nominations and what she knows and from the administration other staff members and makes it individual for each one and that is an incredible job thank you great [Applause] job Blair also I Echo Mr feder's words thank you on behalf of the Board of Ed that was an exceptional presentation um every single tree there I'm sure made people smile and for the people that were getting the award I bet they were thinking I wonder what tree I'm going to get so you did a fantastic job thank you thank you and to those that have won the award tonight on behalf of the Board of Education the members present tonight thank you thank you for everything you do for our kids it's people like you that make parents smile um I know that every every single staff member in this District does everything they can to support our children so thank you on behalf of the board again for doing an exceptional job and um those trees were just fantastic um I didn't know some of them existed um and we all have our favorites so um but thank you again for everything you [Applause] [Music] do and if you get a chance go say hi to Darius and the parking lot um so with that we're going to be moving on to the budget we do hope you all stay um we know you have class tomorrow I don't know if you have homework but um you're more than welcome to stay I will take five minutes maybe two minutes and just for us to if anybody wants to exit you feel free and then we'll resume thank you again okay thank you again um everyone for coming out this evening uh next uh Scott is going to to provide an update on the uh budget presentation after he's finished there will be a Q&A session on the budget presentation only um also you may see some of the board members looking at their screens we've received the budget presentation so uh just know that we'll be reading it from here or of course any member here can can view it on the screen thank you Mr feder all right welcome everyone um so just want to go through this is and just to be clear on what what this is this this statement has been made by multiple Senators assembly even a a state funding monitor in one of the school districts that the issue we're currently facing is a revenue issue not a spending issue and that's just an important concept but I want to go through what tonight is going to be and then the one thing it is not going to be it is going to be we're going to be sharing the general impact of cutting $6.2 million we're going to share a little bit about what the future might look like so current legislation some advocacy and then as you heard uh from president Rogers we're going to hold a Q&A during the Q&A you're permitted to come up here if you're going to if you're going to do that at any point you realize you're going to have a question or want to make a comment just kind of slide over down over here and then we'll line up here at the end if there's anyone who wants to um ask a question or make a comment um but I just want to be really clear about one thing and that's what this is not I will not answer questions I will not entertain topics around why the situation is the way it is the reason is we provided that to you on multiple occasions we've sent it to you we've invited you to meetings we assume everybody already knows that answer so to keep this focused on the issue at hand which is the cuts and what they look like that's what we're going to talk about tonight okay if you have questions about why this is the way it is we're going to we're going to first ask you to watch one of the videos watch any of the testimony and then feel free to ask questions at another time it will not be tonight the next meeting that will be talking about the full context of the budget including why how we got here and all of the information will be on May 7th at a budget hearing on May 7th at the budget hearing that is when the board of education is asked to adopt a final budget to be submitted to the state that's kind of where we are so with that said let's just look at what this is this is $6.2 million there's no easy way to do this there's no fun way to do this I don't really have any good news to share unfortunately maybe a little bit but it isn't great we're starting with 65 staff positions that are currently scheduled to be cut now when we talk about staff positions there are also things like attrition attrition is a word when somebody leaves the district for any number of reason reasons they could be retiring um could be moving out of state resigning their position for any reason this is not about this is positions as of right now at $6.2 million we are at 65 positions and the reason it's not higher is because we have tried to do everything else other than cut staff or programs we have not been able to reach the same success we've had in all the previous years because at some point you just can't keep cutting and we've been cutting for six straight years let's just look a little bit more into that the cuts are coming in the way of classroom teachers all the way from kindergarten through 12th grade all schools are affected some more than others based upon various Concepts but it's all through the district special education teachers are part of that then there are administrative positions supervisor positions these are all things that are being cut custodial and maintenance positions secretarial staff paraprofessional staff Club advisors coaches which are direct impact to students security no one wants to lose Security in fact we know there are four things you don't want to lose don't want to put kids at risk or staff at risk security safety we don't want to lose academic programs we don't want to lose extracurriculars we don't want to deal with mental health $6.2 million it's not happening there's no way to keep Everything clean at $6.2 million and there's going to be other staff involved that's part of that 65 plus positions so what does it look like what does that mean so the biggest thing you're going to see is increase class size and I'm going to go over specifically how each level is being hit with class size we are currently scheduled to completely cut the entire Elementary g&t program completely gone it'll be done in another way whatever way we can legally do we're losing instructional people we're losing power people that help kids in many many different ways this is some Amorphis for some people but we have a very liberal approach to students choosing their courses we allow them to make changes we do what we can we open up new sections that is not happening student makes a choice they're going to be living with that choice we're going to be closing sections we will cut off at a number and that will be that there'll be no more students entering those courses that is a horrible thing to do absolutely horrible but if we don't do it then we have to open up more sections and we can't open up any more sections discipline and Hib when you cut administrators the people that deal with when there's discipline and HIV we're not going to have as many people doing it so it is going to have an impact it all has an impact I know like in generally when you talk about a budget cut you're going to have people probably people in this audience or people at home that say just cut all the administrators listen I I I would be glad to go first right now honestly take take take me you can't just cut all of One anything it doesn't work but we are taking from every single part of the district I think the only group that we did not take from are drivers actually I think drivers are the one group um that we did not um have to take so while this doesn't sound like a lot um discipline and HIV are a big deal and when they're not handled at the right way or in a time frame parents get very upset teachers get very upset students get very upset and it's a mess but it's a reality of when you cut Administration that is what happens this is a horrible one reducing security no one wants to do that the coaches and advisers just to explain what that means um no new clubs so every year kids come to see Mr verella or the assistant principles and say hey we have an idea for a club Lauren Morris is in the audience and that's kind of one of her main jobs and you easier job next year Lauren we're not going have any new clubs um you know no new clubs and at this point possibly limiting if the clubs don't have enough kids and not running them and again awful because that's sometimes the only thing a kid wakes up in the morning for this is Middle School B Teams we currently in our Middle School sports programs have a way for more students to get involved at a B Team level those they travel they get the full feel of being on a regular sports team that's cut that's gone on there are no more B Teams next year in the middle school but there will be because we still want to provide for students as much as we can we're going to change the way we do that and we're going to have intramural sports instead for those B Teams where they were it's a lot less expensive to do and hopefully it'll even get more kids involved in in whatever those intramural sports wind up being that'll be helped by the Administration staff coaches and CJ Hendrick over there at the middle school 10% of the administrative and supervisory staff is currently on the Block and I'd imagine all the staff in this building can attest to this and people say well that's just the way it goes well kids do not benefit when everyone's morale is sunk that's who suffers at the end and right now we probably have about a hundred staff maybe more non-tenured staff that right now are walking around praying they didn't lose their job that's the feeling that exists and I am helpless to solve that completely helpless can't solve that so our K5 will go up to possibly even as high as 27 our 68 could go as high as 30 and our high school over 30 that's what we're looking at now you do all that and you have less administrative support support less supervision less all the other things this is a recipe for a mess at all levels so that's on the cut side that's on the cut side let's talk about the fee side now to explain the fees as clearly as I can if we don't do these fees these things that we're charging for are disappearing so the choice is we have fees or we don't have the thing that's where we are now some of these fees have already been instituted and parents are relatively used to it probably we are going to have to raise them again like we did last year um we don't think we went too crazy but we don't have a choice let's start with the big one pay to play activities will go up 20% per activity there's also a family cap of $300 that family cap will move to 350 people ask what about students who who um are considered free over reduced lunch they will still you know have the same rights they've had before um but this this just gets us another it actually saves a it saves the equivalent of a teaching position in the district that's what this saves high school parking fees right now you're paying 24 bucks a year it goes to 60 not the end of the world but add it to the list it's not fun for parents that are paying that again we're not making millions of dollars on these things we're just trying to do the best we can to cover as much as we can so advanced placement testing fee we play around with various options I want to thank Jeff ran for coming up with a a better viable plane than the one I presented and um this is a $25 increase if you pay for a test so taking a course still no charge there used to be a charge there's no charge um but we up the fee that again saves about it brings it brings un professional back to the district I don't know what the new lunch prices will be for those of you that haven't um seen what we did is we went out it's called we put it we put our current Food Service on the street meaning we've put out that we are open to another Food Service that is David controls that it's a request for proposals from any other company that wants to be our food service um we don't know what the Final prices will be but we are open to raising prices if it means raising the fee the district gets in return for the food service right now I believe David we have a guarantee from our food service of $200,000 we're obviously hoping that we can increase that and we don't know if we will because it's a process and it's a it's a legally it's a legal process that David will follow with his team Chromebook Insurance fee again not not going to make millions on this but we charge a very nominal fee it's going to raise um doesn't affect people who are students or families for their students however if people rent the facilities those costs are going to go up we're going to be charging more to rent facilities um field trips we subsidize field trips to a small degree we're not going to be doing that which just again hurts families you know paying for these and these you know the cost of busing and the cost of these field trip is skyrocketed but it's going to have to be fully fully footed by the students this is new late fee late bus fee if take a late bus take it for one season you just 50 bucks you're in for the season 100 bucks for the year that again saves us a position we are also as we promised we would implementing subscription busing this means if you live more than a mile at the K8 level you can choose to pay for subscription busing $720 the rules I will tell you will be very strict you will have to pay upfront in full by a certain date that will be taken by David and Jill I see Jill's over there and that's a non-refundable upfront full payment non-negotiable you pay for the whole thing period we just simply took this model from other districts that are already doing this and and we're implementing it in a very similar way for very similar price if you're in high school it's 1.25 miles or longer and you're allowed to access a bus for the cost of $720 that summarizes the general impact it might not seem like a long list because I didn't get into specifics from every school but when you talk about the number of Staff we're looking at both on the professional side and the non-certificated side while it might not be listed as impact everything is just going to take a little longer you're going to take longer to get back to parents with questions staff are going to take longer to grade papers when you have more kids in the class it's just the nature of the Beast I just want you to think you can't cut $6.2 million out of a budget and not have Major Impact yet we've been doing it for years and now we can't do it anymore can't so this is the worst news the way it all is working if nothing changes is when next this time next year currently with no difference in anything going on in the state we will have an $8 million hole to fill with virtually nothing left to cut there are districts in the state right now who are there they are already there right now at a number they cannot cut and my colleagues are just telling the state we're not doing it and I will absolutely tell the state next year if we have 8 million that we are not doing it and they will say well you have to do it and I'll say no I don't I can almost retire they could do it if they want to do it let them come in chair and figure out how to cut $8 million next year I'd love to see that Brain Trust do it that's where we are as a district that is not a madeup number that is a combination of the the wonderful stabilization Aid we have received up to now which won't be available in that budget the rollover and other things that David is aware of that's 8 million it's worse than this year if nothing changes so May 7th I shared with you is the date that we will be adopting a budget the budget we will be adopting on May 7th will beus $6.2 million I no longer believe there's a chance of that number shrinking by May 7th we've been working and I no longer believe it is possible by May 7th and I hope I get proven wrong May 15th statutorily we have to inform any staff member who will not be offered employment that date that is the date so just think of what that means right now I'll just go to the next page right now the legislators are there is a bill that helps that bill was passed through the assembly today it will be voted on by the full assembly on Monday but if you not remember because we don't you haven't watched the cartoon in a while how a bill becomes a law you need both the assembly and the Senate to do this the Senate has does not have their bill even though they wrote it it has not been put up yet meaning that bill will not be considered prior to May 7th it will not that means even if they tell us on May 16th hey we figured it out and they decide to give us $5 million we have already told all the people you no longer have a job I can tell you once you start telling people they don't have a job they're already ready I I I would have my resume going now what would I be waiting for waiting to get the bad news we can hope but you can't live on hope so if we start S sending out pink slips the equivalent of a pink slip on May 15th and the state finally comes through let's say in June those people are gone maybe they'll be around but there's a lot of jobs out there because while we're getting crushed on money North Brunswick got another $9 million Edison got another $20 million Woodbridge got $24 million and so on and so on and so on so we would not expect to have the staff that we love and care about available after we give them a letter saying you don't have a job we've told the state this we've told the Senate we've told everybody this we've been telling them for years the sad part is they've been hearing the same message for years and they're still late to the game but I'll back up a little there is there is a bill if you want to see the bill it's a assembly a 4161 that bill has its um will have a companion bill on the Senate I don't remember the name for the Senate bill but it's the same bill that bill does a few things one it returns some of the money they've taken which is good but it also allows flexibility in the tax now not everyone will like to hear that because that could mean and rais in taxes um but a flexibility in that would allow a board of educ education to look at tax impact on their community and decide if they would like to access that part of the bill so that would give any District who qualifies which we are one of the districts that qualify there's actually three points we qualify on all three points lucky us so again I can't speak for anybody I can do the math I can tell everybody what the numbers look like what the impact would be but it becomes a board's job to do that that is not in play yet so to be clear that bill is not law that would still need to pass through the Senate and then signed by the governor now we believe there is support for this bill in both the assembly and the Senate yet it is not going to move in time the testimony on the advocacy side um you know I I I was just joking to somebody I think I just need to move to Trenton it seems like I'm in Trenton every day I was in threatened today testifying for 30 minutes going back and forth with assembly assembly men and women um going back on Monday going back on Tuesday our advocacy committee had a special meeting the other night to start considering what do we need to do to help so we're going to be talking now that we have information from today and and there's a group of those people that are ready to do including students that are just ready to go but the question is what is the right direction and today was a very interesting day a positive day that ended with a negative which seems to be the nature of this Beast before I go over and just hand this over um actually we're going to hold on the board we're going to open this up to the public um if there are people that would make like to make a comment or ask a question I'm just going to ask you to please if if you're going to do that please start coming over here you're going to use this mic you do not have to write your name down or anything you're just going to come up here you don't have to introduce yourself it doesn't matter just come up here and ask a question I'm going to go sit down and if anyone has a question come on up thank you Scott just for edification purposes the Senate bill number is s381 it has been introduced in the Senate it's been referred to the Senate budget and Appropriations Committee that is Senate chair sarlo who's the chair of that committee so it is waiting to be hosted for that Committee just wanted to clarify if anybody wants to speak have a question please we um urge you to uh come up and any any question sir well I I have a comment that uh first of all it's ironic that that the Senate is not getting this through we have a senator right in our Township um I don't know what he is doing um the powers that be um that run the show uh do well politically in South Brunswick so kind of bring it upon our our ourselves I can help give a little yeah let him answer it I can help give a little bit of insight so Senator wicker um crafted the bill and he I was talking with him today and he's been trying to get it through so he is he is legitimately trying I can't I can't say that's good or I can just tell you that that is where we are but it's not there yet it's not there okay thank you you for that comment you know just that they they do politically well in this town and I'm sorry they do politically well as town and they're and they get a lot of funding from the the local unions and all and they're not going to change things unless there's a a shift in uh Trenton and and in quite frankly Washington I I don't recall you uh and I looked up I did my homework I uh read the you saw the videos um about federal aid um so uh Federal Aid comes in the way of title grants and uh Ida funding for special education that is um untouched unimpact not impacted in the course of our so when we budget the entire budget the part of the budget that is cut has been the state aid specifically not federal aid okay approximately how how much of the budget is federal I'm notna I mean just rough I happen I happen to know that David what it's running right about seven right around 7 million I was going to tell you it's about 7 million 307 million okay okay just saying that unless there's change and you I know there's constitutional issues but you know the Constitution could be Amendment it's getting amended all the time there's a Amendment on on the ballot the the Constitutional side of things comes with what's called a thorough and efficient education I can tell you after this year if we're at 8 million next year we will not be able to meet a thorough and efficient education and we will take that up with whoever we need to to your point okay okay and you know just my my two senses you know amend the Constitution you know that's way you know it's you know adequate education might just have to be the way for the state if the local townships could afford better than they can okay thank you thank you thank you sir any other comments questions anyone please please question sure and I don't expect anyone to have the answer that's okay we'll do our best Dave pay attention Dave yeah pay attention I actually came I actually came here on a spur of the moment I wanted to get more involed to M oh sorry that's good wow um alternative funding we know more students are coming into the schools because I'm seeing I mean a lot of the buildings already done but I'm seeing even more I mean right off a major road that's going to be huge I can remember back 40 years ago when Franklin Township was basically telling their developers you can build but we want free we want you to give land do we have any kind of arrangement and I know that wouldn't be the board of directors but you might know something about it we know the answer okay uh no well then we've sold ourselves for very cheaply that the township no longer has the right to request that they do that um with the big with the big units that are going up there's a 1,700 unit development off of North umland way behind Executive Drive oh yeah um that's the biggest one coming there's another one with 184 units attached to the orchard by indian fields um the big one the 1700 units we actually broached the idea of that we Broach that a while back a few years back maybe four or five years ago um to propose that as as a way and and um that development right now is moving at I think we were told the other day at about 200 um units a clip a year so so while that's going to have an impact it's not going to have immedate Rush which would absolutely crush us because the formula takes six years before the enrollment it gets factored in over a six-year average so you would never be able to get recoup fast enough yeah that's actually some of the districts do get stuck with their like a new like a my wife's district is Chesterfield um they were actually the poster child district for underfunded and the reason was they grew exponentially like overnight and they just could not they didn't have the money um and the 2% cap causes them unable to collect any money right so unfortunately your idea is awesome no it's not my idea I'm sure everybody here had that idea I just wanted to ask now the question I have though is this do you guys the board of directors do you coordinate with the zoning with the people who actually hand out the permits to build I think is Barry's on so one of our board members is on the zoning board so they keep can so he could deny well he he's an individual well I mean the board can deny well so this board has nothing to do with no not board the zoning whoever the township has actually South Brunswick has been in a constant battle fighting these developments they've been fighting them for years and they're still fighting them that is act excuse me that's actually what kept a lot of these developments already from being developed in fact when I first got here seven years ago uh we met with the township and the township shared with me at that time and we even built a strategic plan around this concept that um we were to expect in 5 years 5 to 7,000 new homes to be built now that was seven years ago they've been fighting the entire time to avoid this problem so they are that is the township is doing that 100% okay it's it it's good to know that they're doing that um I don't know but what lands and the floods and everything else there's always a reason not to build or to deny it all right and and if you you know they don't live here the developers so they don't have a stake in this community just bringing it to people's attention and I'm sure everybody here has thought the same way thank you very much it's obviously more complicated and I knew it was but I just wanted to hear you we appreciate you thank you for that problem thank you and just a little comment the there was a development that was going to go on by the holiday I think it's still the holiday in on Ridge and rout one yeah um I was actually working with Scott several years ago I was on the board at that time fighting that development going to the court cases so the town has been actively trying to avoid the building I know the 55 and older they were involved in it so they are doing everything they can yeah I'm I'm not necessarily let's hold for thank you but thank you yes sorry um so I had noticed earlier on one of the slides it mentioned a cut in special education and I just was curious if that is going to impact the number of students per classroom that are um H that have IEPs because I know legally there's a cap on the number of students in each like inclass support type of a situation so the answer is yes that's exactly how it will impact right if you have less classes then you higher class size in special ed different than regular Ed as you know um there's there's there's limits right and then there's waivers and then there's AIDS and there's all kinds of things um this is it's it's a it's a thing we don't ever want to see and hope we don't have to but once we plug in all the numbers and all that happens you could see an increase in class size in special education classes yes um the ratio between this I mean I mean more specifically like the number of children with an IEP in a class for the specialed teacher who's servicing those children so an inclusion setting yes okay so we won't we won't break the law okay unless no one's looking I'm looking I know I'm always looking I know as are most of the parents with children trust me I'm looking also we're not going to break the law but we're going to probably go right up to it okay where where we have to where we don't have to we won't it's not a desire it could be an out outcome okay thank you thank you anyone else have any comments questions please yes sir hi my name is Rajesh uh you should know me regular visitor so thank you for the presentation again it's it's going to be very hard it is definitely very hard um and we understand understand that the problem is revenue but to be honest I don't see it coming it's out of our control and it's best to assume it's not coming and and the current approach just appears a little bit like that by thousand paper cuts it's just cutting around the edges we are not still addressing the problem so my question is more of an ask to the board and the administration what strategic solution can we work on now so next year this time time we don't go through again more Cuts more class size increase more cutting all this there are number again I last time I came here I spoke again I don't I know we just spoke about more Housing Development but our enrollment numbers are going down we are going getting less funding so I don't know we are in a pickle but have we thought of again doing a study assessment of consolidating five to Four elementary schools there's a pot of savings there I know it's hard again it's a study and assessment to do is it good not good in private sector typically what we do something like this you know lot of you might know working in it we hire an eyi somebody B can we audit our our biggest spend Capital spend that we do year over year and see if they are still working and giving us the same level of efficiencies that we desired when we started if not we can always reevaluate it and course correct and that's nothing wrong with it so that's another area where we we we should more focus on another one we generally during these times have a hard and fast rule every Outsource service value at RFP every year I know increases a lot of work believe me I've done through and it's a pain but helps helps us reduce cost generate more efficiencies so there are a bunch of things like that I'm happy to consolidate send a note but that's another area of challenge I have is these comments I don't know if they are worked on I'm sure they are been heard definitely I see a lot of you nodding but I don't know if we are acting and there is no sort of feedback loop so it's another area maybe we as a community should think how do we log it how do we document how do we revert so I don't come here and again give you the same Spiel next time so um I had shared we did the full RFP exactly what you said we did that um and if we need to do it every year we'll do it every year it's not it's not a work issue it's just you need to find the best ways you can as far as consolidation of a building um there's other ways to look at that outside of just consolidating a building that's a that's a math number but I can tell you that we are very interested in a full study of our existing program bigger than what you've just described but right now we're not talking about that today because that will not happen as of September however in the future years we're going to have to look at bigger deals so to to your to your point we don't disagree it it takes um you can't keep going at this rate the the problem is if nothing changes regardless of all those things you'll never get out from under even if we close this it wouldn't make a bit of difference to deal with 6 million 8 million 10 million it doesn't go down that number is going to keep Rising um the revenue situation you can't reduce the spend to the point where you can't and but you can restructure you can revisit all the things you said so uh Rees when we do that welcome to join us in in in in the partnership sure no again as I said these are not shortterm n they take time but next year again we don't want to again be in the same situation again trying to put going and again trying to figure it out and it's a hard thing so I think some strategic and again I don't know I'll brainstorm more think you're to find is required you're we're we're we're on the same same page okay wonderful thank you thank you thank you sir any other questions or comments and somebody else right there yes sir thank you so much for presenting us the details um usually I attend most of the cuts meeting I don't know why so mostly I hear the wrong side of the stories um couple of points you mentioned the 65 positions are cutting down and some of the programs are cutting down you are going to make a decision on the sept May 1st May 7th May 7th my question to you the programs you're going to cut down are you going to planning to take input from the township residents example which one is higher precedence which one is a higher value which one is a lower value so I did forget to share at the end that um we'll be sending out a survey okay specifically to rank order survey of exactly what you just said my bad in not saying that U I'm almost done with the survey um it's a survey that will ask exactly our residents our staff and even our students prioritizations because when it comes down to exactly what that looks like at the end so that's going to be a quick turnaround um but plenty of time for us because we we already have our charts and you know we're there but we definitely want the town to participate to a degree right in what what is your priority so I I I thank you for saying that because it it reminds me to make sure I say it so that survey is coming up also on that survey you not going to include the programs you're also going to include let let's say if you're cutting some of the teachers you're going to include some of the details like you cannot name the teacher's name but you can ex yeah the type of the type of program type of the program which would be affected right one versus another one to a degree but not as much as you can without you know yeah there there's there's there's a way to do it so when you see it you'll you'll be able to provide your input thank you um okay my notes are gone another point I have um again my notes are gone so um is last May or June when we were discussing the budget curve for this year you mentioned that was some the outreach program you're are working with your team which you are going to share it with us so the township can participate in supporting the township did I miss it I haven't heard it I'm not sure because because the the the place I'm going is is the cutting you are talking about I don't think so you can hire any consulting company any kind of a program you can do and save that much money we are talking about 20% oh yeah yeah okay that no no none of the consolidations none of the reprogramming will solve that it's going to hurt the bottom line for all of us the second question I have is when we trying to cut our own feet to solve our own problem example increasing our tax to solve our own problem where our own elected officials are voting against us to not get the money and people are not being aware and waking up that the people we are electing are hurting us not helping us okay that magic formula I'm not going to go into detail sucks it doesn't only cut our own funding our student students who are graduating with the top marks and top grades are suffering also at the college level admissions South bronek Plainsboro Westminster are worsely affected this year with the college admissions when you vote don't vote blindly think about the facts because the formula which you explained basically says that hey if your Township doing good the hell with you we are going to take more money we are going to make you suffer and try you out until you are the level of the lowest level School in the township I don't know whether we can fight financially you can increase the tax 2% 3% I don't think so they're going to find a way to take that money as well this is the way to take our intelligence to the average intellig Ence of the state that hurts us doesn't help us what I am saying is we need to be open rather than hiding be open tell us who is voting where you know that is you go to the Trenton we don't we don't know who is voting who is supporting us so as a board member we are asking you to help us to let us do what we can do at our part who is supporting us who is not supporting us who is hurting us so so let me help so um our locals are um Senator wicker is a local assemblyman Fryman assemblyman drulis are local um they are the proponents of the bills to try and solve some of the issues they are the ones who are they're not they are the ones who are writing the bills they are the ones who are trying um but to your question of who who who's our blockers right yes they're they're not the local unfortunately when we say local they're state they're not I'm talking the states a local yeah the state yeah it's all it's all local there's no yeah um one of our one of our things that we are going to do we're actually I actually asked um the assembly assembly men today who do we need to like who is who is it right your question who is it let's flood that person let's let's get that person on the blocks so we are going to be meeting again with our advocacy committee and ready to launch exactly what you're describing which will include the town so the other night we have people in this room right now that have already done a tremendous amount of work ready just to hit the send button to be honest with you and I held them off because of the bill information I received and today um unfortunately it didn't quite come out as we had thought it was going to come out today um we have a few more days of a little bit of Hope left but it isn't much because the deadline will not be met so um we're not ready to to say there's nothing out there yet our our people to your point our local people are fighting hard they are the ones who are fighting hard um but to your point about getting the families involved um and identifying the who or what we can do how and which way we can that that that's part of it right what do we do who do we do it like who do we talk to who do we say what do we do that's exactly what the plan is awesome please do you have any Target deadline to reach send us that plan uh that that plan will be by early next week at the latest that would be great um one other question I have is about busing you said plus one mile does that mean one mile from the school or 3 miles from the school one mile from their school one mile regardless of walking path not walking back doesn't matter okay thank you you're very welcome one mile for the K through yeah yeah okay just want to make sure thank you thank you very much anyone else because I will oh we got another one great we have a student yay grab the mic turn the mic yeah there you go there you go yeah so uh I looked at the budget for New Jersey as a state as a whole and I noticed that they actually increased their education budget and my question is if that's true and all of these other schools are gaining a lot of Revenue or or like districts are gaining a lot of Revenue like New York gained like aund million dollar are we effectively competing with all these other districts for money question um it's a great question it's a great question so in the last two years the 4 about 25 school districts received 1.8 billion new dollars at the same time about 140 school districts lost about $270 million in those two years so to your point effectively you could easily look at it as a competitive situation our neighbors are North Brunswick who received last this year 9 million and the last two years prior to that 6 million each year you mentioned Newark they received 100 million four years in a row and 400 million during covid that's 800 million new money at the same time um we're down 43% of our state aid and a district like Edison right down the road has received over 40 million in 2 years Woodbridge over 40 million in 2 years now now the reason they say is related to this formula um we've gotten pretty fancy with this formula ourselves and while the formula spits out its numbers what it's done is it also has caused districts to be funded in an inadequate to use their terms under adequacy our district is considered under adequacy by the state formula that is then used to take money away right so um I think you phrased it interestingly and if you don't mind I might steal that for Monday um that that's what they're causing right they're causing this effectual competition of school districts when we're all supposed to be trying to do the same thing um so in addition to that uh according to niche.com I found that not only Newark but also Patterson Elizabeth um included all of them they actually spend more per student than we do so corre is really the only reason we're being punished for this because the fact that we have all those um warehouses yes MH in fact if we didn't have the warehouses sales then and I explained this to the assembly today if if the year before um our value of the Town went up $1.3 billion in one year and that was the 18 19 school year we received money from the state and then overnight the evaluation went up 1.3 billion dollar and that caused us to move from receiving money to losing money so their formula accounts what's called The Wealth factor and that's one of the wealth factors income and Town's value by real estate unfortunately when you sell real estate um that was purchased very low and sold very high it has a massive impact to the value of the real estate market and that's what's happened in our case so it isn't it isn't necessarily the reduction of of pupils in fact we've already demonstrated mathematically to them that it's not related to it doesn't help to lose students so that has a little impact but nothing comparatively to the amount of money they've taken and one last question so I know you've been working a lot with um or you've been like working with the senate or like the assembly all of that so my question is because um you did say that they are somewhat on board with this and it's okay if you don't want to answer in your honest opinion do you think we can trust them to make sure this doesn't happen for 2025 to 2026 what do they call it taking the what is it the fifth all right uh thank you I'll leave it as my honest answer is I don't want to answer all right you you can infer from that answer anything you like oh thank you you guys taught him inference right what can I just ask you what is your name uh omos oh om yes I know you okay um om was one of the uh one of the students that actually testified oh no no that's wrong the other different different oh but anyway you need to testify um yeah seriously um um and and I don't know who your teachers are and your parents should be really proud of you because of two things one you did your research you looked at the data you didn't assume and I cannot commend you enough on this behalf of this board and Mr feder thank you for doing that um I'm sorry to so thank you for doing that and I don't know your career aspirations are but you need to like get in politics thank you appreciate everything you've just said thank you other oh sorry any other comments questions before I'm going to open it up to the board for questions so you okay that's fine all right that's fine and that was really good I don't I don't see you here but there he is where is he right in the middle ah there you are um that's really what I one of the other things things I was getting at though if our if our value of this Township has gone up what are the taxes going on with these big boxes out on Route 130 Etc I that can't be okay restricted and I'm sorry if you I know you said you've addressed this new to this I'm going go real fast so what happens when um more money comes into the town it doesn't get collected it gets spread out so the reason like for example we've raised the budget every year yet the taxes on the average home in South Brunswick over six years is minus $56 and that's because of the values of the valuations but we haven't collected any new money you don't get money it just spreads the money that's a hard explanation for the Senate assembly to understand but we've been trying to get them to understand there's no new money but thank you um we're going to looks like we're good let's close out y we're good all right we're going to close out the public question and we're going to open it up now to the board just want to say can I just say before you do that please do just uh thank you guys for coming and for the questions and um that there's more to come um we just have to wait to see what that is going to be but to Rees uh Sony's uh point we do need to do exactly what he said and we've been talking about a plan to really look at the way we structure ourselves but that's going to be something we'll start diving into after the this is this is over um so so thank you for that and again uh turn it back over to you great any questions from the members of the board I just want to make a comment we've been involved in this members of the board so we're pretty much brought up to speed on everything but I do want to be respectful and ask if they have any questions to my right we're good yep to my left Dr that's okay Dr Raj uh so can you bring the microphone CL the subscription Bing it is per year right $720 per student what subscription bus uh the number that's on the slide $720 per year per student right per year student so uh is the district breaking even on that or uh is there a subsidy component built in the only way we were able to even offer it was in a way that um we had to look at the distance we had to look at the number of potential customers for it and the number of available seats to see exactly what we'd be able to do we will not lose any money okay on this issue okay um and the other thing uh uh the field trips uh will be fully paid for right so uh will the reduced lunch families um reduce lunch always always is covered okay no matter what the fee um and uh the class size projections um that was there does it factor in the new uh new potential uh uh Potential from the new okay uh and the other thing is this is a more general question I had so uh you know uh most advocacy organizations and Lobby groups they use uh platforms like you join and vot a voice uh to reach out to lawmakers uh it's pretty simple there will be a standard letter and uh people just need to do that one click thing uh so what it called the act action Lisa Action Network yeah call The Action Network okay okay to us than yeah I have question um so I just want to clarify someone asked about Federal funding and you said it comes in the form of tit and that's each title those for very specific things we can't use that like we do state funding yeah we can't move title money to wherever we want it it's directed for certain areas basically Suzanne runs most of that uh and Evelyn and um the idea is the other place you see some real Federal funding but that's all specific to special ucation and then a percentage of the uh Federal money for idea also can be spent on regular education on how you're doing preventive work so so all of that is uh predetermined and then um we work within those Frameworks okay um and then also uh someone also asked about how we could find out who voted which way it isn't that made public at some point right so so they're able to go public so just very quickly when you when you're curious to know how a legislator votes um you can go to NJ legislature. comom I think it's the New Jersey legislature you can look that particular Bill Up and Under the bill you could actually see um the name of the person on that committee um who voted a certain way as well as the full Senate when they vote or full assembly you can see that I will say today's bill passed out of the assembly yes okay all right great and then also I know that Senators wicker and um the people that work under him are fighting um if we for the tax levy Bill am I correct they're fighting for the comprehensive package to how we can attack the issue of Revenue okay so are they fighting to get us back I know there so we can have the flexibility but are they fighting to get money back there's two ports one part is getting money back and one part is flexing and they're fighting for both of both it's in one bill okay and just to clarify that's bill s381 that's sitting waiting to go into the Senate Appropriations and budget committee it hasn't been posted there yet any other questions Mr Mitchell yes I do have a question um for uh uh Middle School sports are student athletes or students are uh required to pay the pay to play yes I say okay so even if they're on a b Squad they're also do I have a middle school yes the answer is yes so if if a parent comes up to you and asks you how do you justify getting rid of the B program or B Team sure when they're paying the play well they they would would no longer be paying to play the pay to play doesn't cover the full cost it's an offset mhm so we this is what they need to know we're able to net it's it's $25,000 M we're netting that but we're also going to be able to offer um activities Sports in an intramural session instead of the bees so we're not erasing the opportunity M because we do know that's a a priority from all the groups that we've met with so far um but we're able to do this in a different way which saves the $25,000 okay thank you any other questions one last time Miss caric yeah I just uh you know it got me thinking when uh asked a question about subscription busing um so I know that we had discussed this some time back is there a sort of a a critical um sort of um you know mass that we need of because you know if I if I have a to 8 within one mile and I don't have uh the critical mass to sort of you know apply for subscription busing then even though I'm willing to pay for it so we we set this up to be um foolproof we can't lose we are we do not need a critical mass we just need the number of students who are interested and we will not lose okay and I have the best director of Transportation on the planet and uh she has designed this in a way that allows for two things one the district to make sure it's profitable not we don't really it's not that this a place you want to necessar make a fortune you're not going to make a fortune but it is guaranteed to not lose money and is guaranteed to be available for any of the families who fit that criteria okay and um the other question I had was regarding the clubs um I know that it's going to to impact um advisers and new clubs and that's going to be part of pay to play as well right uh all the clubs are pay to play but in terms of support for the coaches and the advisers so for example if there is a club that's on the you know on the axe that's going to be asked can we have uh you know included in the survey so that people know that okay if you want this club you'll have to now support not just the club but also the advisers associated with the club so so right now that is what pay to play is that's exactly you just described it it it is paying for part portions of the cost to operate so that's how the clubs generally work so the the idea of being able to say we're going to lose the um I don't know what club The Water Club and um normally it's $100 to join the Water Club but because that's the one we've chosen we're going to charge families $200 for the Water Club no we won't do that we wouldn't be able to decide one club at a time who's going to pay more for their club that would be very problematic our our goal isn't to cut the clubs it might be um limiting enrollment it might be not holding a club if there isn't enough of a of a turnout and let's say we were using I don't know Lauren what is our number that we is Lauren she left um Harley do you know what what number do we what what number does a club need to have in it to to be a club do you know that deps anyone from the it depends okay so so that's what could be impacted is start putting numbers to those things where seven is not going to be enough possibly so we haven't identified which clubs that isn't the way it's going to work it's going to work by looking at everything and trying our best to hold everything but just acknowledging I'm putting it up there because it's an acknowledgement I don't want to not say something today and then someone come back you said you didn't say this on April 11th so these things are all up in the air as posses M far yes Mr feder I wondered about uh the placement testing comment uh in your presentation um and wondered also about uh whether you know other districts who charge for AP courses since they're credit-based courses and will we be doing that so we looked at both charging for the course and how we would do that versus charging for the test so we upped the charge for the test instead of doing the charge for the course um as a way to still make a similar amount of money than we were looking at to charge for the class itself it was a cleaner it was a cleaner way to operate the same outcome so one of the things if you start charging for a class to take is you know you you almost becomes Collegiate in the sense that the bur's office is going to call the kid down and say Hey you know your parents didn't pay your fee we're going to have to move you to honors and we don't really want to be in the business of chasing people down when you sign up to take the test you pay if you don't pay you don't take the test it's that simple that's why we went that way instead of the other way so you can take a weighted course without testing you can take the course without testing and you still maintain college credit I do not believe so okay no the credit comes from depending on the college you go to and depending on your test so you so a clarification if I want as a student in high school to take an AP course and I want it to have credit for my future College I must take placement testing okay for back College I answered okay thank you thank you any other questions comments okay so I just have one um if you can just clarify Mr feder one point because I know it comes up quite a bit is preschool funding um this is not touched and why uh preschool funding is 100% separate from our K12 funding it is a program called preschool expansion Aid it is 100% only usable for preschool and it is determined by enrollment um we actually received an increase there because we were able to expand our number of preschoolers so while I don't know that we'd be able you know move the money if even if we could the idea here is the long-term impact if you can get our kids in our schools at three years old there should be a long-term impact to other services you'll need over time so it's an incredibly good program and I it's the one area I do give the state credit for even a good design I don't like to give the state too much credit especially right now but the design is is interestingly done and um it's it's a very hug it's a huge positive for the community but it is completely separate so thank you thank you oh yes m f just for the public information um does the stabil stabilization Aid that we usually can get um when we uh receive that from the state does that come through the uh state board Board of Education or does it come straight directly through the State Department of Education uh it comes ultimately through the treasury through the Department of Education and do you believe that with these new bills that might change uh that the stabilization Aid System will still stay in place well I I I have no interest in stabilization Aid right they can take it and you know what with it but okay um I'm also not dumb I'm not going to not take money if they give it to us right but we do not want a solution where they take our money from state aid then give it back to us in phony money that's not a plan so stabilization isn't something you just get it's only been issued in the last two years it's not it's a it's well three three stabilization packages but two years and um yeah this bill has another stabilization package in it um and again we'll we'll take it but just remember for those that don't know when you take stabilization Aid just like a million dollars that means I'll use it this year but then when it's not given to me next year I'm minus a million that's why I'm minus 8 million next year already because the stabilization dat which has helped us through one year don't talk but the actually the example I used is I'm going to use so I don't know if I should use this year but if you have a bookie you know kids you have no idea what I'm talking about um if you owe someone money and they say you know we're going to let you take a year to pay it back you pay more and that's our problem these numbers go up so there's no interest in stabilization Aid except for we'll take it because it's money okay thank you last trips please we got another question yes I'm sorry right yes where's question oh M car yeah just for I just wanted uh you to clarify your efforts in trying to reduce uh the impact of security with the township with the shared services conversation so in case somebody missed that just repeat your question so I know that the Administration has been having conversations through the shared services to reduce the impact for security to schools so I just wanted you to provide some insight into the efforts that you've put in to sort of mitigate that yeah so we we meet with the township um one thing we just recently um we've talked about it before but we we made a an official request of sorts um to reduce our portion of the cost for our current um police officers that work in the district and we're waiting for a response which they just they just got the question so thank you y coms questions just a quick point on the AP I thought that was a good question and I also like the fact that we are not charging for AP and the reason I like that is because it allows the student that may not be able to afford to get into that AP class it gives them the ability to be taught in preparation for college and so I commend you thank you I I this is Jeff ran gets the credit for that je thank you um for [Applause] [Music] that um I just want to make one final comment we are working with this advocacy committee uh we were on a call several of us Tuesday night um worked with Scott till 8 9 10 o'clock at night to put together this plan um it's coming so the advocacy committee wait for the update because what the plan will be to do an email phone call attack on every single Senator that needs to push this through um so be ready everybody um we need everyone to do this family friends neighbors grandparents everybody so when you get that notification please step up it's going to be super easy um you don't have to do much work pretty much press a button or two and that'll be it so just be ready for it no no oh we closed it out you could comment shortly yep any else no okay keep mov so I just wanted to comment on that any other comments no all right so this will close out the um section of the budget presentation thank you Mr feder thank you Dave thank you Maran Mara Marcia excuse me I always do that and everyone in the office that help put this together all right next is board committee and liaison reports I'm going to start with my left side M Mr Mitchell any update oh my gosh I'll skip you that's okay um Miss Hernandez any update yeah uh the education committee met on March I got to take my glasses off March 21st um present was myself Dr Raj Miss carick Miss Rogers Mr feder Dr Mammon and Miss luck borne were at the meeting we just kind of wrapped up some stuff that we've spoken about at the previous committee meeting uh book placement grade level we just continued on the process of that Dr mmon just kind of closed that out for us we talked about um aib day that we talked about um previously we just kind of wrapped up how that um played out at our Middle School um we I brought up class trips a trip in general that was actually a PTO fundraiser and that was it very good any question for Miss man Hernandez no all right well we'll just jump I know the um buildings operations Mr Nathan is not ill today so we have no update right now for um bu for building and operations my apologies um policy any update on policy Miss con uh we have not had a policy committee meeting so I have no updates right now thank you and Mr Mitchell finance committee sorry about that that's all right kind of jumped on you there um just wanted to report that we did meet on the on the 19th of March and in attendance was uh Mr Nathanson uh Miss Ferrara um our president Rogers superintendent feder board secretary palowski Miss Malloy white uh Miss Lorne Mrs Lorne and Dr Evelyn M and uh we went over it was a brief meeting we went over budget stuff of course uh discussing uh funding and current state of affairs um which a lot of that you've heard here already uh we review current tiers of program and Staffing cuts which you've heard here tonight uh also review current fee increases as well as changes to share service agreements which we haven't talked about tonight um also finally we talked about and review the work of the advocacy committee and bills that are making their way through the assembly um and and we thank the advocacy committee for the work they've done up to this point um on a personal um and that's my report thank you so much any liaison reports none oh okay Mr Mitchell I had the privilege of visiting uh last week was my spring break and I had the privilege and honor of visiting several schools last week and um had a wonderful wonderful time was treated to some um enlightening experiences I got to walk I got to walk the schools got to see kids walking and interacting in the hallways um and it was just an overall enlightening experience for me um I'll share with you what schools I did visit uh Crossroad South thank you principal capes also Indian field Miss with Mr ratin and Mrs de thank you uh Cambridge with Miss pimberton thank you so much and Dayton and Dean's preschools with Mrs plumber that was the highlight that was the highlight because those little kids they're the best they were so special yes they were so special and I just want to thank uh do uh uh superintendent feder uh for your support and allowing me to do these things because uh it just meant a lot uh not only to staff for me to come there but for me to be able to be there and and support them and to encourage them um they're doing a great job folks um it's not something that we make up y I got to see it firsthand so U thank you again and that's all I have to say very good thank you any other Le is on no miss kic the high school PTO had its uh uh monthly PTO meeting which I attended uh they also invited uh Miss Jennings uh to uh you know give a talk on how to write college essays which was very helpful unfortunately I couldn't stay for the whole time cuz we had our advocacy committee meeting right at the 30 minute Mark but but the PTU always does a wonderful job of having these meetings and also bringing interesting topics so I just wanted to provide an update to the board on that wonderful thank you very much anyone else okay administrator M Maharaj from Trent Cambridge uh elementary school thank you so sorry about that quite a quite a quite a road trip you had thank you very much all right this will close that section of the agenda out next we will be moving on to public comments on agenda items only and I get to read my statement just one second okay so the Board of Education recognizes the value of public comment on educational issues and the importance of allowing members of the public to express themselves on school matters of community interest complete copies of policy 0167 which govern this portion of the meeting are available to the public at the auditorium entrance online or by contacting the Board of Ed office to permit the fair and orderly expression of comments we ask that participants be recognized by the presiding officer and preface comments by announcing his or her name place of residence and group affiliation if appropriate and by completing the signin sheet please print legibly or we may be unable to document your name for the permanent record each participant May made I'm sorry one more time each statement PA by a participant shall be limited to three minutes no participant may speak more than once on the same topic Mr palowski will indicate when you have 15 seconds remaining all statements shall be directed to the presiding officer no participant May address or question board members no discussion between a participant and respondent shall extend the three-minute time limit it is our plan to listen to each member of the public once all questions and comments from all members of the public are made the Board of Ed May respond or respond via email in the most timely and efficient manner available all questions and comments made will be noted please note the presiding officer May interrupt warn or terminate a participants statement when the statement is too lengthy personally directed abusive obscene or irrelevant I'm sorry a request an individual to leave the meeting when that person does not observe reasonable dequorum interrupt and or warn a participant when the statement question or inquiry is abusive obscene or may be defamatory to the member of the board request the assistance of law enforcement officer in the removal of a disorderly person when that person's conduct interferes with the orderly progress of the meeting call for a recess or an adjournment to another time when the lack of public decorum so interferes with the orderly conduct of the meeting and wave these rules when necessary for the protection of privacy or the efficient administration of the board's business the first public comment is for consent agenda items only there will be a second opportunity for the public to comment on any time Mr pki do we have any members who pre-registered uh no pre-registrations but I missed paragraph four can you repeat that one I have to there's a lot of people here basically and I want to make sure they all know the rules any comment gotcha any public comment on agenda items only Y and and do you have any anybody in the audience that would like to make a public comment going twice all right I'm coming thank you took all the time for the public all right we will move on um see I got me all screwed up okay no no further comments we will close this portion of the public comments next order of business is a consent agenda review by Mr praski Mr pki please review all right consent agenda this evening we have our standard bills list we're accepting a donation from the PTO at indian fields we're doing a withdrawal from the Community Fund excuse Community Education fund um we had some funds left in there from years ago we have have a withdrawal from their cafeteria fund balance a withdrawal from our summer Institute all of those withdrawals are due to based on our budget from last year that we're that're working in this current year we have an approval for an adjustment to the ten tenative budget we're talking about Healthcare waivers in motion 16 17 we're accepting um the acceptance of chapter 192 193 nonpublic uh funds we have a transportation contract renewals authorization use of concession procurement process for um naming of our um sports complex at the high school we'll see if anybody bites on that we have an approval to purchase over the bid limit for our Wilson language training which is all uh Grant funded we also are looking at purchasing uh oh excuse me we're we have a project that we're funding through a withdrawal from capital reserve funds for a roof project at Cambridge um and then we have our travel we have HIV uh student field trips and we have some extension of some Professional Services for students with special needs and we have some out of District placements uh tuition adjustments and then we have the second reading and Adoption of our policies and that's your uh consent agenda this evening very good thank you so much Mr pki any questions from the board regarding the consent agenda no questions mros refrain I'm refraining from 1.12 because of the reimbursements right 1.12 we we all have the the njsba convention reimbursements there you see yeah um am I abstaining from that hold on just a minute it's not a payment you're just approving the trip we're just approving the travel you're not you're not getting the you're not getting the reimbursement just yet any other comments questions for Mr paraski no I close that portion Mr paraski roll call please roll call here we go uh Miss Julie Ferrara uh yes except for 1.11 oh no it's from the policy is that a no on 1.11 yes look at the policy Mr Laura Hernandez show it to you yes uh Miss deep carthik yes Miss Alicia Khan yes Mr Raja Krishna yes Mr Mike Mitchell yes Dr Smith Raj yes Mrs Lisa Rogers yes motion carries thank you sir okay all right this is the um this is the second opportunity for public to comment on any matter on any matter you are reminded of the previous statement I will not read it again um of the rules of policy 0167 again at the podium state your name spell your name and announce your place of residence and or your group affiliation complete the signning sheet and you are limited to 3 minutes do we have any members pre-registered sir we do not are there me any members of the audience that would like to make any comment on any item NOP okay we will close that portion of the public comments please note that the next scheduled Board of Ed meeting is set for Thursday April 25th the next item is we have to move into executive assessment so until I finish reading the statement please do not leave the Das may I have motion to go into the executive session SEC and second second so we have a move by Mr Mitchell second by Dr Raj all in favor I any Nays be it resolved that the Board of Education in the township of South Brunswick hereby moves into an executive session in accordance with the Sunshine Law chapter 231 of the public laws of 1975 njsa 1046 through 10421 to discuss the following student discipline Manner and shared services be it resolved that discussion conducted in executive session can be disclosed to the public at such time as the matters have been resolved formal action may be taken at next meeting we are now moving into executive session thank you South Brunswick and good night